Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Disney v2.0 - Remember when Tigger wrote on Allie's Minnie

Magic Kingdom.  Again.  If you haven't figured it out, it's the girls' favorite park.

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For our last day, we planned to fit in all those things we had yet to do.  And then swim.  And pack.

Breakfast was in the suite, which was fine because we had somewhat early lunch reservations at the Crystal Palace (buffet character meal.)  Our first stop was behind the castle to meet Lady Tremaine along with Drizella and Anastasia (Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters.)  The girls were a bit apprehensive at first because, you know, the stepsisters are known for tearing pretty dresses off of others.  I had to reassure them that Disney didn't allow the stepsisters to rip guests' dresses.

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Allie was using a small princess notebook as an autograph book.  She had drawn pictures and written words on some of the pages.  Lady Tremaine spent some time reading through it and commented that it was very interesting gossip.

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We had yet to meet Jasmine (the girls weren't interested in Aladdin because he's a boy) so we headed there next.

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As you can imagine, there are a ton of gift shops at Disney.  We browse but don't purchase much.  However, on this day, we did have a 20% off coupon and Christmas was approaching so we decided to shop before lunch.  The girls had been told at the beginning of the trip that they could only pick out one souvenir, which they did during our second day.  On this day, we allowed them to pick out one more.  Allie's choice was a nerd Minnie.  And then it was off to lunch.

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I really like the Crystal Palace.  Even though there isn't a huge variety of food, there's more than enough to choose from and it's good.  The character interaction is fun as well.  Although, this time around Piglet was a little bland but the girls didn't really seem to notice.

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Eeyore checking himself out on Emily's dress.

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Tigger was quite playful with the girls.  After signing their autograph books, he picked up Allie's new nerd Minnie and pretended to autograph her face.  Allie had a weird expression on her face when Minnie was handed back to her and I had forgotten all about it until we were waiting outside the restaurant after lunch.  (Rich, Grammy and Emily were in the bathroom.)  Allie showed me that Tigger really had written on Minnie's face.  It was obviously an accident as it was just a small line but still.  I had just purchased it and now it had ink on its face!  When Rich joined us, I told him that I was going to go back inside with Minnie.  I hadn't thought beyond finding the manager but I figured that we couldn't be the first people to have had this happen.

I was very calm and polite, after all we are talking about a $20 stuffed animal, and was speaking with a manager within two minutes.  I showed Minnie to him and explained what had happened.

Manager - "Oh, wow.  Tigger sometimes gets carried away.  Or maybe he couldn't see very well."

Me - "Yeah, I can imagine it's not easy in the costume."

Manager - "No. He sometimes forgets his glasses in 100 Acre Wood."

Ah, yes.  There are no "costumes" at Disney.  So the manager took Minnie and said, "I'll take care of that for you."  I was expecting him to pull out some alcohol wipes or something to clean it but instead he filled out a voucher, which allowed us to pick up another Minnie at the gift shop free of charge. 
After lunch, we returned to Fantasyland as there was one more attraction we had yet to experience - Enchanted Tales with Belle.  The line snakes in front of and goes through the main room of Belle's father's cottage.

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Once inside, you are led in groups to a room with the talking wardrobe.  And yes, she really does talk and move her mouth, eyes and head.  For this attraction, guests participate in the telling of Belle's story.  In the room with the wardrobe, a cast member assigns the parts.  Allie won the role of Phillipe, the horse, while Anna and Emily became Mrs. Potts and Chip.  You end up in the Beast's library with Belle where you all act out the story for Belle.

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No flash photography is allowed!  (Love the lighting.)

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And that ended our last day at Magic Kingdom.  We returned to the hotel for swimming and packing.  Our flight was later the next morning and the trip home was uneventful.

I hope you have enjoyed my trip report.  I am planning to write a post to discuss our experience touring Disney with a child with spina bifida and some tips for those of you with several small children.  I'm also working on a post regarding traveling with your DSLR and my suggestions for lenses specifically for Disney.  

20 comments:

Colleen H. said...

I love your disney posts, I'm planning a trip for October 2014 for 8 members of my family. It will be my kids first trip they'll remember! So excited!

Alexis Hohne said...

As someone who works as a Cast Member at Disneyland, I really appreciate your posts. It's great to hear the good (and the bad) things about your trips to Disney and how we can improve in certain areas. Above all, I hope the girls always have a magical time! I can see them growing up and being princesses themselves :)

Christi said...

Your posts have been great! Thanks for sharing all your tips and tricks. How neat that the kids get to act out a story for Belle.

Unknown said...

I'm blaming you for this. I read your blog, and when we decided on going on vacation last minute, I picked Orlando. I think it was totally from all these Disney posts! We'll probably only do Disney for a day, but I'm looking forward to Harry Potter World!It will only be myself and my husband, so it will be fun to have an adult Disney experience.

Anonymous said...

Your Disney posts are always so cute. I can't help but wondering, does Anna prefer wearing skirts over dresses? Because it seems as if she was always wearing a skirt while Em and Allie almost always wore dresses during your trip.

Sarah said...

Thanks! Colleen & Eileen - you're going to have a great time.

Alexis - I never thought about a CM reading these. It must interesting to see it from a guest point of view.

Anon - yup. Anna's in a skirt phase.

Debbie said...

Sarah,
Thanks once again for sharing your family time with us. It doesn't take much to make me anxious to book my next trip, but yours has me really excited as the new Fantasyland wasn't open when we were there last summer. I am really really excited to read the upcoming post on your photo tips! Since I just received the same camera as yours for Christmas, I would be so so excited to be able to ge some of the same shots as you...or at least some of them. Thank you so much for doing this for us. I feel I have so much to learn with this new camera.

Anonymous said...

The story about the small mark on the Minnie made me really sad. You should have told Allie how neat it was that she will always remember Tigger hugged Minnie, etc, instead of speaking with the manager!!

Stef said...

I think those pictures of the girls with the Cinderella crew are some of the best yet! And your comment on there being no costumes in Disney made me giggle. I havent been to Disney since I was a kid so I don't remember that aspect of it!

Kayla said...

I love this series. Your pictures are wonderful and your story telling hooks you right in. Your family brings me happiness and smiles daily. Thank you for sharing.

JEN said...

Of all the characters we met I thought Lady Tremaine was by far the best.

Anonymous said...

I really feel like you over reacted to the situation with the stuffed animal.

But I really do enjoy your Disney trip reports and your blog in general.

Sarah said...

I'm an over-reacter but I thought they could clean it off. She looked like she was growing an odd blue whisker.

Bridget D said...

Wonderful pictures. Your girls are beautiful! As a side note, I think its comical that any negative comments are always signed under anonymous.
-Bridget

Katie said...

I love your trip reports! And what great customer service!

Sarah said...

Bridget D and Katie - thank you.

JEN - Lady Tremaine is definitely at the top of the list of characters to meet.

Anonymous said...

Definately over-reacted to mark on Minnie. No wonder Disney prices are so high - people are always looking for something for free. It would have been easy for you to just take a wipe and get the ink mark out yourself rather than complain to the manager.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Disney prices are so high because of that. LOL

FYI. A baby wipe won't remove ink.

Anonymous said...

Love your blog and your adorable girls! I have a 6 month daughter and I keep telling my husband how excited I am to take her to Disney!! Unfortunately, we will be waiting a few more years! :-) It's still great, though, to read your VERY helpful reviews! :-)

Unknown said...

unlike your other commenters--I'm glad you talked to a manager! You left with a GOOD feeling, not a bad one. If you hadn't, and the mark hadn't come out, it would have bugged you whenever you saw it. This comment is coming from someone who NEVER complained about stuff until recently, and then just allowed that poor feeling to fester.
She paid 20 dollars for the stuffed animal--she wasn't 'looking for something for free.' Seriously? That's rude, and completely untrue.